1. Field
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to a nipple protector and method for covering and protecting a nipple area, and more particularly a woman's nipple area.
2. Description of Related Art
Mothers in the lactation period, for example, suffer damage or soreness of the nipple area due to biting by the infant during nursing, and the like.
If there are problems of this kind in the nipple area, then the flow of breast milk during nursing can be impaired by stress caused by pain. As a consequence, the infant sucks repeatedly with greater force in an attempt to extract a greater amount of breast milk, the nursing time becomes longer, and therefore the damage to the nipple area can become even worse.
Therefore, nipple protectors are used in order to cover and protect the nipple area when the woman is not nursing.
As a nipple protector used in this kind of application, there is, for example, the composition shown in FIG. 8 (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-33202).
In FIG. 8, the nipple protector 1 includes a hemispherical or dome-shaped shell 2, and an elastic member 3 which serves to close off the base portion of this shell 2. An opening 6 is formed centrally in the elastic member 3. A plurality of air holes (not illustrated) are formed in the shell 2.
As shown in FIG. 9, the nipple protector 1 of this kind prevents any contact with the damaged nipple area 5 and prevents unwanted external irritation of the nipple area 5, by means of the elastic member 3 abutting against the front face of the breast 4 of the user, the nipple area 5 being introduced through the opening 6 in the elastic member 3 and the nipple area 5 then being accommodated in an internal space S1 which is demarcated by the elastic member 3 and the shell 2.
However, a nipple protector 1 of this kind involves certain characteristics, features, and problems such as the following.
The nipple protector 1 protects the nipple area 5 by accommodating the damaged nipple area 5 inside a relatively hard shell 2.
However, there is a drawback in that, when the nipple protector 1 is worn, the hard shell 2 presses against the front face of the user's breast 4 and if the hard outer edge is pressed strongly, then a circular red mark may be left on the front face of the breast 4 and the user may feel pain in the place where the edge digs into the breast.
Therefore, by disposing an elastic member 3 in a position which abuts against the front face of the breast 4 and causing this elastic member to deform in a flexible fashion, pressing of the breast 4 and unpleasant irritation of the breast 4 can be eliminated.
However, as shown in FIG. 8, if the nipple protector 1 is pressed against the front face of the user's breast 4 while being worn, the elastic member 3 deforms and bends toward the inner side. Therefore, the internal space S1 formed by the shell 2 and the elastic member 3 is squashed and becomes smaller, and the inner face of the shell 2, for example, abuts directly against the nipple area 5 accommodated therein, thus causing pain and unpleasant irritation due to rubbing.
In other words, a conventional nipple protector 1 may not be able to provide the function of protecting the nipple area 5 so that it does not come into contact with other objects.